and is amazed that the Galaxies are not only expanding, but also collapse. He studies this process in timelapse mode. Expanding star systems crowd out neighboring star systems, causing them to press against each other, that is, to collapse. If the expanding force is enough to bring galaxies close enough, then the Big Bang happens. Under its powerful action, expansion begins again. Kosmodemyan remembers the lake in the city park on a hot summer day: in the same way, boats with couples in love on the board collide and repel in the narrow alignment of the bridge. For a short time, the researcher forgets about his own failure, which is replaced by global surprises like a «How much has yet to be studied by mankind! So much they must to understand and explain!»
«What about life on exoplanets? No wonder I calculated all these zones of habitability!» the ego quickly regains control over the thought process. Kosmodemyan flies into the constellation Ursa Major to the planet Vv-1. Its name is an abbreviation of the surname Vsevolny. In relief, Vv-1 is very similar to the Earth, but he only meets desert stone landscapes. He flies around hundreds of other planets – the situation does not change. Caves, cracks and natural wells are checked in search of evidence of vital activity. There is no result. The idea that life is phenomenal in its essence, and therefore we are alone in the universe, confidently corrodes the motivation for further searches. Most of his sensational discoveries are refuted right before his eyes. And even them. So another joke about Russian space for the series «The Big Bang Theory» arrived.
His research and scientific calculations are depreciating at the same speed at which Kosmodemyan is approaching the most massive object in our galaxy – a black hole. It becomes frightening whether the consciousness will be able to get out of this infinitely dark abyss. After all, this is not possible even for the fastest particle – a quantum of light. But the astrophysicist could no longer think of anything else: the black hole is so attractive and desirable. Together with the fragments of the nearest stars, Kosmodemyan is sucked beyond the event horizon, inside the all-consuming blackness.
A mandrake and panic overtakes him in absolute darkness. There is nothing to observe, the thought does not develop further. Only a habit, developed over the years, saves: when the proof of cosmic theories comes to a standstill, you need to look for analogies in other areas of knowledge. The scientist remembered the favorite phrase of his friend, a nuclear physicist. During heated debates about the choice of subject of study, he usually said: «Well, you cannot take up space when not everything is studied on Earth!»
«But this can pull me out of the black impasse!» Kosmodemyan agrees with his friend for the first time. «Let’s think about it. Nuclear physicists study the properties of elementary particles in colliders… Of course! That’s what you need to think about! What does dark matter consist of?»
The darkness parted, and to his delight, Kosmodemyan sees that it consists of extremely small particles. Less than quarks. Kosmodemyan called them Juniorons. Particles of such minuscule sizes are not stable, because by itself observing them with light already turns them into other particles. But here, in the absence of light, the Juniorons connects to each other so tightly that there is practically no free space between them. They take up almost all the space given to them! Therefore, a black hole in a limited radius accumulates a giant mass, which creates a frenzied gravitational field.
Packing of Osmium atoms (the densest simple substance) VS Juniorons
Somewhere far away he feels the prick in his arm. After that, the questions that pop up in the mind abruptly change their subject.
«I wonder,» Kosmodemyan thinks, «will I go to Paradise?»
The scenery around is modified into a cozy place, flooded with light. Kosmodemyan is surrounded by a society of melodic, kind voices who talk about science, art, history. They listen carefully to each other without interrupting. The desire to express disagreement is accompanied by an apology for the inconvenience caused. Courtesy and politeness elevated to absolutism.
Soon enough, a sugary taste of boredom seeps into this idyll, and Kosmodemyan asks the voices: «Is there hell?» An invisible force immediately transfers him to a narrow, purple-sweaty space, like a cave or a bunker. From somewhere in the depths comes an uncompromising muse. It smells like sex, alco and exhaust fumes. From everywhere there are screams, squeals, moans. All this variety of indifferent to everything sounds is mixed with laughter and develops into a monotonous hum. Kosmodemyan becomes vile and lonely. An anxious feeling creeps in from a dark corner. It says that time is running out and there is no time left at all.
«Yeah, who are they, these Gods and these Devils?!» – Kosmodemyan explodes inside his heart.
Meanwhile, the Gods, along with the Devils, are watching a reality show called «Earth.» Each of them has its own storyline, which depends on their personal preferences, formed by artificial intelligence and based on the previous requests of these Higher Beings to the Universe. They intervene when life on the planet stabilizes and so becomes too dreary to watch. In one director’s cut, the Earth is shrouded in atomic mushroom cloud. Those of the people who know how to joke survive. They develop immunity to radiation. The DNA of irradiated cells ceases to be shortened, which increases life expectancy hundreds of times. Colossal knowledge and experience accumulated over the course of longevity make it possible to create new technologies. One of the technologies moves people’s consciousness into virtual reality. They create a constant reality show there, and they turn into Gods. Or into Devils. Here’s how it goes. After all, you never know at what point a monster will crawl out of you.
– Repeated lidocaine? – assistant consults with a doctor of the Tyumen Medical Center.
– No need: it seems that the patient has already regained consciousness.
After this surreal trip, Kosmodemyan comes to a clear understanding that his mental potential is much higher than the level of the Nobel Prize. He had just experienced the state of Superman. A person who can reach the cosmic level of understanding of the Universe without physical flight on a rocket. And as soon as he realizes this, he immediately returns to his body.
Kosmodemyan jumps up from the operating table, not allowing doctors to properly fix the bandage on their head. Crushing expensive equipment on his way, he runs past people in white coats, past the open arms of his wife. For a long time in the Medical Center, there was a story about a scientist who came out of a coma into the state of the Olympic runner. But Kosmodemyan doesn’t care what people think of him. In a hurry, he even managed to miss a moment of pure, childlike joy from feeling his own body after paralysis.
Kosmodemyan like the biggest psycho, runs down the street in hospital pajamas with a disheveled bandage on his head. His fingers banged on the screen of his smartphone, buying a plane ticket.
What was surprise, and then disappointment of the public (mainly in academia), when Kosmodemyan refuses all titles, titles and achievements. He just didn’t sign the Nobel Prize certificate!
Relatives and colleagues, who suddenly appeared in endless quantities, dissuade him with all their might. Their main arguments are: «Honey, think for yourself, even if the model of neighboring galaxies is not accurate, it has fundamental discoveries, without which steps towards other discoveries are impossible!» or «You understand that any accepted theory is just the majority of „YES“ votes from opinion leaders. But not the ultimate truth!» (this point of view, on the contrary, agitated in favor of rejection and was uttered by unrecognized scientists more in order to speak out about the pain than to convince Kosmodemyan. There was still a lot of talk about the enormity of the cash prize, especially, if euro convert into rubles. Someone asked for themselves and for their family, hoping for a spontaneous, impulsive decision by a scientist who had clearly gone a cuckoo. Someone pressed on pity, begging to give money to charity, sick children.
All these arguments do not work on Kosmodemyan, because he manages to get a report on the operation. From now on, with an accuracy of up to a millimeter, he knows